Just how many of the thousands that travelled to Wembley in 1928 are still following fitba? We can but dream of crowds of that magnitude these days.
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31st March 1928. A date that every Scottish football fan should have etched in his brain. On that date Scotland became the first of 17 countries to beat England at Wembley. Today is the 75th anniversary of that most famous of famous victories over the Auld Enemy. 75 years ago, the side christened the "Wembley Wizards" made sure they would go down in history as the side that tore England apart , 1-5. This was Scotland's first of nine Wembley wins and was only the second international played at Wembley. In fact, Scotland had played England before at Wembley but the game in 1924 ended in a 1-1 draw.
The teams on the day are noted below and I am sure that visitors of a certain age could probably reel them off faster than you can read them. Strange to note that Scotland had been beaten by Ireland 0-1 at Firhill Park just over a month before in front of a crowd of 55,000. Granted only two players were selected for both games, James Dunn of Hibs and Alan Morton of Rangers. It appears that such great changes in a side were the norm for Scotland around then. Only six of the Wembley Wizards made the next game against Wales (in October of that year) when they won 4-2 at Ibrox.
However, we should celebrate this day, the day that Scotland showed England how to play and score goals. How many times has Scotland played a team off the park but lost? The scoreline 75 years ago, shows that Scotland can really rub their opponents noses in it. Oh for those days to come again.
Scotland
John Harkness (Queen's Park), James Nelson (Cardiff City), Thomas Law (Chelsea), Jimmy Gibson (Aston Villa), Thomas Bradshaw (Bury), Jimmy McMullan (Man City, capt), Alex Jackson (Huddersfield), James Dunn (Hibs), Hughie Gallacher (Newcastle), Alec James (Preston), Alan Morton (Rangers)
Scorers: Jackson (3, 65 & 86 mins), James (44 & 67 mins)
England
Arthur Hufton - Fred Goodall (c), Herbert Jones - Willis Edwards, Thomas Wilson, Henry Healless - Joseph Hulme, Robert Kelly, Dixie Dean, Joseph Bradford, William Smith
Scorer: Kelly (89 min)
Referee: Bell (Scotland)
Attendance: 80,868
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Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba.net)
Vanderhogg (vanderhogg@scottishfitba.net)
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Al McIntosh (Al@scottishfitba.net)
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